A&H

Head injury then a promising attack

wazztie16

Level 4 Referee
Level 4 Referee
Had a head injury in my last Saturday morning game, thankfully nothing serious, player went down NOT holding his head, I waited a few seconds to see if he'd get back up and as I did, ball was played up the field towards the oppo goal with a striker about to take the ball through for a 1on1.

Blew the whistle at that point when the injured player didn't get back up, cue the shouting, screaming, I had to explain why I'd waited, that he had held his head a couple of seconds or so after the ball had left the area, so I had no choice but to stop play.

A few players then understood my reasoning, but it's my first experience of it, and I'm glad I didn't allow a goal to be scored (was thinking back to the thread on here where that happened).
 
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Had you stopped play immediately, would have it been an easier sell for the decision?

If its head injury, and you are not sure if it is serious, unless a goal is about to be scored, my advice is don't risk it and stop play immediately.

Well done though on recognising you have to stop play and manging to sell the decision.
 
Had you stopped play immediately, would have it been an easier sell for the decision?

If its head injury, and you are not sure if it is serious, unless a goal is about to be scored, my advice is don't risk it and stop play immediately.

Well done though on recognising you have to stop play and manging to sell the decision.

It would've been easier, but the challenge wasn't foul worthy, and the player didn't initially hold his head, hence not being sure of the severity. Just one of those situations unfortunately.

All smiles all round in the end.
 
Sounds like you handled it well and the players accepted your decision. It is worth noting that, even if you have an inkling that it might be a head injury, it is better to stop play to attend to it immediately. If you're unsure, then what you did is all you could do.
 
God this head injury nonsense.
Let's just ban all sports JUST IN CASE.

Stop the game by all means if nothing is happening but one on one?
He can wait 5 seconds for treatment.
 
God this head injury nonsense.
Let's just ban all sports JUST IN CASE.

Stop the game by all means if nothing is happening but one on one?
He can wait 5 seconds for treatment.

I know what you mean.

It's just another ploy with which to cheat the other team out of an advantageous situation sometimes. As soon as a player puts his hands to his head/face there's an automatic assumption (certainly on the half of his/her team mates) that the ref should be looking to stop play.

As discussed on here before, a referee is almost certainly damned if he doesn't.
 
I know what you mean.

It's just another ploy with which to cheat the other team out of an advantageous situation sometimes. As soon as a player puts his hands to his head/face there's an automatic assumption (certainly on the half of his/her team mates) that the ref should be looking to stop play.

As discussed on here before, a referee is almost certainly damned if he doesn't.

In fairness in this situation I don't think the player that was down knew where the ball had gone, I was watching him and the play alternately and don't recall seeing him look like he was faking it, and when he was seen to he seemed a little like he'd had a whack, he got up still holding his head.

I don't think this time was a ploy, but as it is, damned either way.
 
God this head injury nonsense.
Let's just ban all sports JUST IN CASE.

Stop the game by all means if nothing is happening but one on one?
He can wait 5 seconds for treatment.

That's ok at the high levels with first aid etc readily available, not at grass roots football unfortunately.

I explained to the players that their safety was my priority, and they were accepting of that.
 
The right decision. Just because he isn't holding his head doesn't mean he isn't hurt or concussed. You have a duty of care to the players so to play on ignoring this would be failing to do your job at the most basic level unfortunately.

If you are sure it is head injury, then don't hesitate to blow up to check the player over.
 
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